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Guide to stamping out junk mail

Tip 4 - Mailing Preference Service

The Mailing Preference Service (MPS) is a free service that can prevent your name is added to direct mailing lists. You can also use the service to register a previous occupants' name at your current address.

You can contact the MPS in numerous ways. In fact, it is the only junk mail opt-out service you can register with online (both the Door-to-Door Opt-Out and Your Choice can't be contacted online and will send you an 'opt-out confirmation form' instead). Of course you can still send a standard message to the MPS to ask for an opt-out form via Junk Buster. An advantage of using Junk Buster is that you can contact up to five other opt-out schemes at the same time.

Alternatively, you can contact the MPS online, by e-mail, by phone or in writing:

www.mpsonline.org.uk
mps@dma.org.uk
08457 034 599
Mailing Preference Service
Freepost 29
LON 20771
LONDON W1E 0ZT

The MPS and Junk Buster Friendship Association

The MPS is the only opt-out service that gets upset every time it receives an e-mail via Junk Buster. The MPS' latest attempt to make life difficult for the opt-out machine is its decision to no longer send registration forms to people contacting the service via e-mail (which includes Junk Buster). In effect this makes it pointless to contact the MPS via Junk Buster, which is why the latest version of Junk Buster does not send a request for an opt-out form to the MPS. Instead, you will receive an e-mail from Junk Buster with an explanation of the latest situation and advice about alternative ways of registering.

The latest release of Junk Buster also includes a smart MPS registration e-form. The form is 100% digital and should take away any concerns the MPS has about wasting paper. The form is also 100% unofficial and I expect the MPS to say that using e-forms is outrageous. But, it's worth a try and does make the point that all that talk about 'saving paper' is just cynical greenwash.

More details about the MPS and Junk Buster Friendship Association can be found on the Junk Buster page in this guide.

The 95% myth

The MPS is the most well-known opt-out service in the UK. This is not entirely fair, given that the Door-to-Door Opt-Out will stop considerably more junk mail than the MPS. Of course, the Door-to-Door Opt-Out reduces unaddressed junk mail whereas the MPS can help reduce addressed junk mail. I'm comparing apples with pears. But still; in terms of the number of pieces of junk mail the two services can prevent (which I assume is what you're interested in) it's the Door-to-Door Opt-Out that deserve all the praise and attention.

Nevertheless, it is the MPS that is always mentioned first in 'how-to-stop-junk-mail' guides. Usually, these guides will start by saying something along these lines:

"Registering with the MPS reduces personally addressed unsolicited sales and marketing direct mailings by about 95%."

Sounds good, doesn't it? Register with the MPS, and you will hardly get any addressed junk mail anymore. Unfortunately, the claim that the MPS can reduce addressed junk mail by up to 95% is a myth. Or, to put it more bluntly, it's a false claim for which there is no evidence whatsoever.

Allow me some time to bust the 95% myth. If it bores you, jump to the Facts and gossip section now…

The 95% figure is completely unrealistic for the simple reason that the scope of the MPS is very limited. The main limitation is that the MPS will not stop addressed junk mail from advertising mail from organisations whom you have given permission to send you advertisements. If you have asked Whatever Company to send you a catalogue from time to time then you will to continue to receive it, even if you have registered with the MPS. In other words, an explicit request to receive advertising mail overrides a registration with the MPS.

Although this is an understandable rule, it does raise an important issue. When you requested that catalogue from Whatever Company you might have missed the opt-out box that was hiden on page three of the small print. If so, you have explicitely asked Whatever Company to add your personal details to its mailing list. Usually, you will also have explicitely asked the company to please share your personal details with a range of 'carefully selected' third parties. The result is that your name and address – and who knows what other information – end up on an ever-growing number of mailing lists. It is important to be aware that the MPS cannot prevent this. Junk mail that results from failing to tick opt-out boxes will not be seen as 'unsolicited'.

The MPS can only prevent that your name and address are added to so-called 'prospect databases'. In plain English that are mailing lists with the names and addresses of people ('prospects') with whom the junk mailer does not have an existing relationship. It's the postal equivalent of 'cold calling'. Increasingly, junk mailers are reluctant to 'cold junk mail' people. They much prefer to 'target' people who didn't tick an opt-out box; they're more likely 'prospects'.

Does all this imply that the MPS is another 'dummy scheme'? Well, no. You should sign up. Registering can make a difference, but don't expect a dramatic drop in the amount of junk mail that comes through the letterbox. Registering with the MPS is not half as effective a measure as signing up to the Door-to-Door Opt Out or consistently ticking opt-out boxes.

The MPS is limited in a number of other ways:

Not all junk mailers will check if you have registered with the MPS. Junk mailers are not required by law to 'screen' their prospect database; only DMA members are obliged to 'clean' their mailing lists. In particular smaller businesses are unlikely to purchase the MPS list.
The MPS will not stop junk mail with a generic address (i.e. 'To the Occupier'). This is a rather strange opt-out the DMA created for junk mailers when they set up the MPS. There is no reason to assume that people registered with the MPS will somehow want to receive 'To the Occupier' mailings.
Foreign junk mailers do not use the MPS. Opting out will not stop mail-out sent from abroad.

All things considered, the MPS may be able to reduce addressed junk mail by up to 50% - and I'd say I'm being generous here. If the 50%-figure is correct and you're an average person, opting out will stop exactly 84 pieces of junk mail per annum.

Other practicalities

It can take up to four months before your registration with the MPS becomes fully effective, although you should see a reduction in the amount of junk mail you receive in this period. The reason why it takes so long before bulk mailers leave you alone is that it usually takes quite some time to produce a mail-out. It's worth noting that this argument is not wholly convincing; it would of course be possible to 'clean' a mail-out shortly before it's handed to Royal Mail.

A registration with the MPS lasts five years. When your registration expires the MPS will send you a new opt-out form.

Facts and gossip

The DMA runs no less than six different opt-out services. The most well known schemes are the MPS, Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and Facsimile Preference Service (FPS). Apart from these three services there also is a Corporate TPS and Baby-MPS. The latest opt-out service is the infamous Your Choice scheme.
There are rumours circulating that the MPS will become an opt-in / out-out service. Instead of opting out of addressed unsolicited mail altogether such a scheme would encourage you to only opt out of receiving specific types of junk mail (say credit card offers) and to opt in to receiving other types of junk mail (say insurance offers).
It's difficult to say exactly how many people are registered with the MPS. As at February 2010 the MPS database contained just over 4.5 million records, but some of these records are household registrations (that is, probably more than one person) while others records are individual registrations. The reason why there are two types of registrations is that the MPS ceased to be a household opt-out in September 2007 and is accepting only individual registrations since that date. A registration with the MPS is valid for five years, and until September 2012 there will therefore be two MPS lists.
Because the MPS is no longer a household opt-out other members in your household will still be opted in if you opt-out.
As mentioned above, it is not a legal requirement for bulk mailers to check if you have registered with the MPS. Under the DMA's Code of Practice members of the DMA do have to use the suppression file but there is no such requirement for non-DMA members. Interestingly, the same is not the case with the TPS, Corporate TPS and FPS; these three opt-outs come under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 and are enforced by the Information Commissioner's Office.
Perhaps as a result of the voluntary nature of the MPS, people are still relatively unaware of the existence of the opt-out scheme. According to the DMA's own research only 46% of people in the UK have heard of the MPS. For the TPS the figure is 55%. The TPS file is also considerably larger than the MPS database; it contains 14.8 million records (compared to just over 4.5 million for the MPS).
One reason why the TPS is better known and more used than the MPS is that the TPS allows third party registrations. BT, for example, actively encourages its customers to register their telephone number with the TPS.
Under a voluntary agreement with Defra, the DMA is committed to publicise services such as the MPS. Since this agreement was signed in 2003 registrations with the MPS have doubled. Defra would like to see a further increase in th number of people registered with the MPS. However, a recent suggestion by Defra to advertise the MPS on all addressed junk mail was rejected by the DMA as an "unsophisticated and blunt axe response".
It's not possible to register the name 'Occupier' with the MPS. Unsolicited mail with a generic address (such as 'To the Occupier', 'To the Householder' etc.) is classified as unaddressed mail and is therefore not covered by the MPS.
The 'To the Occupier' loophole does not only cause problems for people with the surname 'Occupier', it also means that such items are not covered by any opt-out scheme. Royal Mail's Door-to-Door Opt-Out considers items addressed 'To the Occupier' as addressed mail (provided that the item includes an address as well).

Complaints

If you continue to receive addressed junk mail four months after you have registered with the MPS, you can complaint to the DMA:

Mailing Preference Service
MPS Freepost LON20771
LONDON
W1E 0ZT

The DMA will want to see either the original mail item(s) or a full copy of the mailing including the envelope. On receipt of this the DMA will contact the organisation in question to find out why the mailing was sent. If it is a breach of the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion the DMA will pass your complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority for action.

Do keep in mind that you are not allowed to complaint about junk mail with a generic address (i.e. 'To the Occupier'), items sent from abroad, and mailings from organisations whom you have given permissions (perhaps unknowingly) to send you junk mail.

What's next?

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